This came up in the comments of my JD Drew post and I thought it would make an interesting post of its own. Manny Ramirez is 15th all-time in strikeouts, tied with Dale Murphy, and should enter the top 10 this year (Jim Thome is #2 on the list, but assuming he's done as an everyday player, he's likely to fall short of the 284 Ks he needs to catch Reggie). But Manny is #1 on the career K list of lifetime .300 hitters. Here's the top 10, or rather top 12 since #10-12 were so close together. I included in the chart BA-K, which is batting average when not striking out; BABIP, which is average on balls in play (i.e., when not striking out or homering); K/plate appearances; and BB/K ratio.

#

Player

SO

BA

PA

AB

H

HR

BB

BA-K

BABIP

K/PA

BB/K

1

Manny Ramirez

1748

0.313

9437

7962

2494

546

1283

0.401

0.344

18.5%

0.73

2

Alex Rodriguez

1738

0.305

9611

8304

2531

583

1060

0.385

0.326

18.1%

0.61

3

Willie Mays

1526

0.302

12493

10881

3283

660

1464

0.351

0.302

12.2%

0.96

4

Derek Jeter

1466

0.317

9809

8659

2747

224

885

0.382

0.362

14.9%

0.60

5

Frank Thomas

1397

0.301

10074

8199

2468

521

1667

0.363

0.310

13.9%

1.19

6

Hank Aaron

1383

0.305

13940

12364

3771

755

1402

0.343

0.295

9.9%

1.01

7

Babe Ruth

1330

0.342

10617

8399

2873

714

2062

0.406

0.340

12.5%

1.55

8

Jimmie Foxx

1311

0.325

9670

8134

2646

534

1452

0.388

0.336

13.6%

1.11

9

Paul Molitor

1244

0.306

12160

10835

3319

234

1094

0.346

0.330

10.2%

0.88

10

Chipper Jones

1231

0.307

9273

7825

2406

426

1343

0.365

0.321

13.3%

1.09

11

Larry Walker

1231

0.313

8030

6907

2160

383

913

0.381

0.336

15.3%

0.74

12

Roberto Clemente

1230

0.317

10212

9454

3000

240

621

0.365

0.346

12.0%

0.50

A few interesting notes:

-Manny and Babe Ruth are the only guys on the list to bat .400 career when not striking out. Without checking, they may be the only ones ever; Rogers Hornsby batted .391 when not striking out, Ted Williams .379, Ty Cobb .385 for the years when we have strikeout data (1913-28, during which he hit .367, a point above to his career average), Ichiro .369, Albert Pujols .375.

-Only Jeter and Clemente here top Manny's .344 average on balls in play. Jeter's got to be near the top of that list all-time (Cobb's at .378 for the years we have strikeout data, Hornsby for his career is at .365, Ichiro .359, Pujols .321).

-Manny and A-Rod easily top the chart in stikeout frequency, not just totals, making their career averages that much more impressive.

-Clemente, unsurprisingly, has the worst BB/K ratio on the list, followed by Jeter and A-Rod; Ruth, of course, had the best.

Very interesting stuff. Reaffirms what I have said here many times about Manny. Seven years of watching that guy hit were seven years of being treated to a legendary hitter's ABs. When he was locked in (end of 2007 + first 2 rounds of the playoffs) he was as difficult an out as you can imagine. The PED stuff will hang over him but maybe the greatest right-handed swing I have ever seen.